ROI report shows economic value of a UW-Stout degree

May 7, 2014

A new report confirms that a degree from
the University of Wisconsin-Stout is worth the money invested in the education.

The 2014 PayScale.com College ROI Report
indicated that the 20-year net return on investment for a student paying
in-state tuition and receiving financial aid was $309,200. The annual return on
investment rate was 9.3 percent, which ranked fifth among all public
universities in Wisconsin, including UW-Madison.

"Everyone knows that UW-Stout students have
tremendous success in the workplace," said Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen. "We
are proud of our 97 percent placement rate. This report confirms that a
UW-Stout education is well worth the investment to obtain that degree."

The full report is available here. UW-Stout's
annual employment report is available here.

UW-Stout
also commissioned an independent study on the return on investment of a degree
from the university.

That
study, by the EMSI consultant group, showed:

Students enjoy an attractive
15.3 percent rate of return on their UW-Stout educational investment.

The average annual income of
the typical bachelor's degree graduate at the midpoint of his or her
career is $47,600, 94 percent more than someone with a high school diploma.

Over the course of a working
lifetime, bachelor's degree graduates earn $947,100 more than someone with
a high school diploma.

The
PayScale.com report measured the 20-year return on investment as the total
income that a graduate will earn after 20 years of working, minus what they
would have earned as a high school graduate and the cost of college, minus the
average financial aid amount awarded to students. The result is their net
earnings in 20 years as a college graduate.

The
annual ROI rate is the return on investment of investing in a degree as opposed
to investing in other ways, like the stock market or bonds.

UW-Stout,
Wisconsin's Polytechnic University, has more than 9,300 students in 45
undergraduate majors and 23 graduate majors, including one doctoral
degree. UW-Stout, established in 1891, prides itself on the success of its
students in the workplace, with an employment rate at or above 97 percent for
recent graduates. The university was awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Award in 2001.